The field of fashion and technology is exploding, but even still much of it has taken the form of simple heartbeat bracelets and activity trackers. But this is only the beginning... Mindshare and Cross Campus are proud to host four female role-models each of whom are redefining how fashion blends with technology to react to our bodies and surroundings.

How will FashionTech impact social interaction and self expression? What does it mean when form and function are so deeply intertwined? What does our future look like as we continue to embed technology into what we wear?

What does fashion lack? "Microcontrollers" according to Dutch based fashiontech designer and innovator Anouk Wipprecht. As she is working in the emerging field of "fashion-tech"; a rare combination of fashion design combined with engineering, science and interaction/user experience design, she created an impressive body of tech-enhanced designs bringing together fashion and technology in an unusual way. She creates technological couture; with systems around the body that tend towards artificial intelligence; projected as 'host' on the human body, her designs move, breath, and react to the environment around them. She recently launched 'Synapse' (wireless biosignals) and the Robotic Spider Dress, a second Intel-Edison based design, during CES 2015 (Consumer Electronics Show), Las Vegas. Anouk is currently based in the USA, and is resident at AutoDesk, Cirque du Soleil, Sparkfun, Microsoft Research Labs, and Intel.

Tiffany Trenda is a new media performance artist based out of Los Angeles, California. She received her BFA from Art Center College of Design and her MFA from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Design and Media Arts program. Trenda won Artist of the Year at the London International Creative Competition Awards in 2008. Later, she exhibited "Entropy" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and showcased "Face Me" at the World's Expo, in Shanghai, China in 2010. She has performed at the Performance Art Institute in San Francisco, Italian Cultural Institute, A+D Museum, Scope Art Fair (Basel and New York), Boulder Contemporary Art Museum, Los Angeles Contemporary Art Exhibitions (LACE), and Miami CONTEXT, where she graced the cover of the Miami Herald for the first image of Art Basel 2012. Trenda was included in the performance program for the Metamorphoses of the Virtual – 100 Years of Art and Freedom during the 55th annual Venice Biennale. Recently, Trenda was the highlight for Art Silicon Valley, Art Hamptons, Silicon Valley Contemporary, and Palm Springs Fine Art Fair.

Syuzi Pakhchyan is a user experience designer and author with a passion for crafting products and experiences for next generation wearable technologies. After receiving her MFA from the Art Center College of Design, she authored "Fashioning Technology" the first DIY book on interactive fashion, and began a design and innovation consulting studio. For the past 8 years, she has worked as a consultant helping companies fashion wearables that are truly wearable and distinctly desirable. Recently Syuzi was also Intel’s Technologist in Residence at Art Center College of Design where she helped produce events and happenings that encourage conversations around the future of wearable technology. As a leading expert in her field, she chronicles the constantly evolving developments in wearable technology on her blog, fashioningtech.com.

Behnaz Farahi is an interaction designer, architect, Annenberg Fellow and PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Media Arts and Practice at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where she is exploring the potential of interactive systems using advanced computational technologies. She is interested in the exploration of the potential of interactive environments and their relation to the movement of the human body. In particular she is interested in the integrated application of material behavior, and implementation of emerging technologies in contemporary art/architecture practice. Behnaz Farahi has an Undergraduate and two Masters degrees in Architecture. Her work has been widely published and exhibited. In 2013 she was awarded first prize for the Kinetic Art Organization international competition, and in 2014 first prize for student work at ACADIA annual international conference (Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture). Behnaz Farahi has also worked with Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis on two NASA funded research projects developing a robot to print structures on the Moon and Mars.

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Friday, March 27, 2015 from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM

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Mindshare LA

Mindshare LA holds monthly workshops, salons and movie screenings that gather hundreds of Angelenos for evenings of inspiration and interaction. Our most popular salon-style events include short eclectic presentations, live music and interactive installations. Since 2006, Mindshare has hosted over 150 events and become a mecca for intellectuals, artists, scientists and other forward thinking characters looking for inspiration and connection across this vast city.